With their season-long goal of a playoff spot already achieved, Vancouver Sun writers Bruce Constantineau and Iain MacIntyre agree a Whitecaps win over the Galaxy in the MLS playoffs is unlikely at best.

LOS ANGELES – While the star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy finished training in their home stadium here Wednesday, the Vancouver Whitecaps took to a practice field about 100 metres away – literally in the shadows of the Home Depot Center.

Close but not too close.

Only small portions of both training sessions were open to the media but there’s no secret about the tactics the Caps will use to try to pull off the shock of the year today (THURSDAY) when they meet David Beckham, Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan & Co. in a one-game Major League Soccer playoff.

Expect them to employ a compact, conservative, defensive style of play designed to frustrate the Galaxy’s high-priced attacking talent.

It worked effectively in a scoreless draw in Salt Lake City last weekend and Whitecaps players indicated that’s the game plan again.

“Maybe it’s not as free and open and expansive as we’d like to do but you have to go win a football match and you’ve got to do (that) the best way that you can,” said Caps midfielder Barry Robson.

Whitecaps goalkeeper Brad Knighton, who will make his first MLS playoff start in his fifth season in the league, said the “one-off game” doesn’t have to be pretty.

“It’s not going to be pretty, it’s not going to be nice,” he said. “But it doesn’t have to be nice to win . . . Anything can happen in a one-game playoff so we’re looking as the underdog to come in here and cause havoc for them and take our chances on the other end and walk out of here with a home game on Sunday.”

The winner will host the San Jose Earthquakes in the first leg of a two-game Western Conference semi-final series on Sunday.

The Whitecaps have never scored against the Galaxy at the Home Depot Centre – losing by a combined score of 8-0 in three losses there over two seasons. But Knighton liked the way his team defended in a 2-0 loss in Los Angeles on Sept. 1, giving up two spectacular “wonder goals” from Beckham and Juninho.

He said a Vancouver win would stun the MLS soccer community.

“It would probably be the shock heard around the league,” he said. “Everybody has already written us off so why not prove everybody wrong and show some people that we deserve to be here.”

Caps captain Jay DeMerit feels his teammates are “a little bit looser” now than they were before they lost other big games this season – including the Amway Canadian Championship final to Toronto FC and the final regular-season home game to Portland.

“That’s when things can turn and be really positive for you,” he said. “It starts with the belief that these types of (upsets) can happen. That’s what we’ll look to do in a one-off game – disrupt them and make sure we’re testing everything they have.”

DeMerit is under no illusions about the intense pressure he’ll face during the game.

“We know what we’re in for, especially us at the back,” he said. “We know the quality they have. They can hit you from a lot of different angles and many different ways. But (the scoreless draw with) Real Salt Lake was good preparation for us.”

Robson has encouraged his teammates to “just have a go” against the Galaxy without being intimidated by the enormity of the occasion.

“As we say in Scotland, go and try to enjoy the occasion and do as well as you can,” he said.

Caps head coach Martin Rennie senses his players are “excited and motivated” by the challenge, not intimidated.

“I think they’re very focused,” he said. “No one really gives us a chance and that can fire us up and help us focus on what we’ve got to do.”

Rennie wouldn’t tip his hand about his first-choice lineup or game strategy but stressed you have to approach the Galaxy with caution.

“They have as much or more talent than perhaps anyone in the league so we have to manage that effectively and be smart about how we go about it tactically,” he said.

Whitecaps centre back Andy O’Brien, who will defend against Keane for the first time in MLS after facing him several times in English Premier League play, said his team has nothing to lose here.

“Hard work and determination and sticking to your job sometimes can work,” he said. “It’s important to give a good accounting of ourselves.”

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